Discover How Garlic Benefits Your Health

High Blood Pressure

Can garlic really help treat high blood pressure? Many people nowadays suffer from high blood pressure. Back then, older people were the only ones afflicted with this problem. As the years pass by and with evolution to modern world, even the younger population has to live with the same dilemma. Therefore, it is safe to say that more and more individual are now concerned with their health including their blood pressure.

Blood pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by the circulating blood against the walls of the blood vessels and is one of the vital signs being monitored in order to diagnose many diseases. A person is considered to have high blood pressure if the reading is above 140mmHg systolic and above 90mmHg diastolic. If an individual has been observed to have a reading like this after three consecutive visits, then he is considered to have hypertension. Having a high blood pressure reading should alarm a person especially if it has been going on for quite some time. It can lead to many illnesses as life-threatening as stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.

Blood Pressure Lowering Effects of Garlic

After having mentioned all these things, the question now is that how will garlic help an individual in controlling his blood pressure? Many of the substances found in garlic such as gamma-glutamyl compounds and flavonolic compounds which are said to be natural ACE inhibitors, magnesium also known as a natural calcium channel blocker, phosphorus, adenosine, allicin, and sulphide compounds assist in arterial dilation or widening of the arteries so that blood can pass through it easily and decrease pressure against the walls of the blood vessels, thus promoting lower blood pressure. Although all of these elements are helpful in lowering blood pressure, diallyl sulfide is considered the most significant. It is said that this element is less powerful and not as unstable as allicin so that even after cooking, it still does retain its medicinal value. Just like allicin, in order to extract diallyl sulfide, the garlic still has to be chopped or crushed, but if cooked whole, then it loses its health benefits. This substance also is said to be helpful in blood circulation and in lowering blood cholesterol levels, hence indirectly decreasing blood pressure.

What is the recommended amount of garlic consumption a day, many would ask. Well, it is advisable to take about two to three cloves of garlic a day which may be incorporated in preparing foods or in its raw form if tolerated in order to control blood pressure. If this is impossible to do or the person cannot at all tolerate chewing garlic, then he can make use of the commercially prepared garlic supplements in the market.

Having a high pressure reading is a major concern of an individual and looking for remedies for it is expected, but one should not just rely on it. An extra effort coming from the person is still needed especially for this type of disease wherein lifestyle plays a major role. Keep reminding yourself that although it is hard to follow a healthy regimen, it will eventually pay off. So eating the right kind of foods, doing regular exercises, drinking in moderation and smoking cessation would definitely help. What are you waiting for? Grab some garlic clove and start munching on it and see how it slowly makes your life a healthier one.